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Real Lives: Physics team leader

Watching a rocket launch is pretty heart-racing at the best of times. But when it’s your own payload – designed and built over two long years – it’s particularly nerve-wracking.

Just ask Arrow Lee, a PhD student at University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL). Arrow leads a student team that recently constructed a device to detect and identify particles in the upper atmosphere. Watching the rocket take flight at the Esrange Space Center near Kiruna in Sweden, she feared all was lost.

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“The first alarm was when the lift-off signal didn’t show,” she says. “All this panic welled up, even though there was absolutely nothing we could do.” Meanwhile, the rest of the team, observing from a nearby hill, were completely in the dark. “We were trying to text them to let them know how it went, causing more confusion.”

Luckily, the blip was down to a faulty indicator, and the rocket successfully completed its 2-minute flight. “It all went well and we got the results we wanted,” says Arrow. Her team hope their findings will help them learn more about the Earth’s magnetic field.

Arrow joined the UK-wide team, called PoleCATS, when she started her PhD in instrument science at MSSL. After studying for a degree in physics and a master’s in string theory, she needed a change of pace. “I wanted to find something a bit more hands-on,” she says. “As team leader I get my hands stuck in to just about everything&colon; the management, the mechanical design, the electronics – everything.”

The role has involved a lot of hard work and on-the-job learning, but Arrow reckons her experience will add weight to any applications for jobs or research positions. “Looking at postdoc positions, it surprised me how many require management and communication skills,” she says.

But having experienced the thrill of seeing a project through from beginning to end, Arrow says she will think twice before going back to theoretical research. “I really appreciate the feeling of something tangible being achieved,” she says. “It was very tiring and stressful at some points but the fact that it works is hugely exciting.”